Marcus Phung - Software Design Engineer

What is your role in the ICT industry?
I am a Software Design Engineer for Microsoft. I work on developer tools for Windows Workflow Foundation, helping to create Workflow designers for Visual Studio as well as rehostable Workflow designers (i.e. placing a Workflow designer in a separate application so you don't have to always use Visual Studio).

What do you love about your work?
I like the fact that I'm working on something that I know other people are going to use. It's interesting watching how other developers use the tools you've had a hand in designing and implementing. You learn a lot about how people think. What you might consider intuitive might not be to your customer.

What is the money like?
I would say the pay is respectable, with ample opportunities for raises. I was earning more than enough to support a comfortable lifestyle in Australia and I was only on a graduates wage. Here in the US I'm still gaining experience, but the money is more than enough.

How did you get to where you are today?
During my final year at Curtin, Microsoft was advertising for graduate positions at uni. Two of my friends decided to apply, however I held off. They were both employed, while I went on to work for Raytheon Australia. After a year of my friends bugging me to send them my CV, I finally caved in. A few months after that (and several interviews later) I was sitting on a plane heading to Seattle to start working for Microsoft.

What made you decide to work in ICT?
When I finished school I was tossing up mainly between Electronic Engineering and Software Engineering. I ended up choosing Software because I saw it as an industry with a lot of opportunities to work overseas with many diverse areas of work. I started out in the Defence industry, and now I work on software development.

Is the ICT industry what you expected?
Working in Defence was exactly what I expected although I did struggle with the bureaucratic red tape, in terms of how we built and maintained software. Working at Microsoft is slightly different - but not uncommon to a "West Coast Tech Company" as my friends and I call them. My role is more defined and I get to concentrate on one aspect of Software Engineering.

What do you find interesting about working in ICT?
Even though I don't directly work on products that you use everyday, I like the idea that software and computers are used by each of us. I don't think there'll be a shortage of jobs for Software Engineers anytime soon.

Where do you see your job in ICT taking you?
Wherever I want to go and whatever I want to do. There are software jobs all over the world. I was in Australia, now I'm in the US. I'm considering Europe in a few years, and then maybe Asia.

What advice would you give someone considering a career in ICT?
Working in ICT isn't limited to programming and software development. I'm a Software Engineer and I do development work, but I have friends who are systems administrators, network engineers etc. ICT isn't just about sitting down in front of a computer and staring at a monitor all day, there is a lot of human interaction, no matter what area you work in.

Why would you encourage others to get into the ICT industry?
The diversity of the work available. I know people who work on games, on operating systems, mining software, Internet Service Providers, enterprise/business software, even people who work on air-conditioners. And if you get bored of what you're doing you can easily change what you're working on.